Tikal timbers and temples: ancient Maya agroforestry and the end of time

Water and sustainable land use at the ancient tropical city of Tikal, Guatemala

“…This research involved several methods and approaches inclusive of both dry and wet coring of ancient reservoirs and natural depressions, conventional excavation and surveying techniques, and a suite of paleoenvironmental analyses. Both previous studies and ongoing botanical assessments of past and present ecosystems complement the water management investigations described (35). To date, 45 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates from key strata within reservoirs and related contexts provide our principle chronological control, although redeposited ceramics of known ages provide terminus postquem assessments of human use.…”

“…These findings suggest less maize agriculture or presence of other C4 plants immediately within the site center, with potential garden plots farther away. Although the use, variety, and abundance of tree species through time are currently being studied, previous research indicates that the ancient Maya of Tikal-at least leading up to the Late Classic period-were conservative in their forest management practices (35). Given the steepness of Tikal's topography and the near absence of terracing, whatever vegetation covered the drainages surrounding the reservoirs seems to have anchored soils and slowed erosion-a condition apparent in the relatively slight amount of sediment infilling into the bajo-margin reservoirs for over a millennium.…”

Recovery of the forest ecosystem in the tropical lowlands of northern Guatemala after disintegration of Classic Maya polities

“…These changes occurred at the end of a protracted, ~750-yr episode of population growth and political integration in the southern Maya Lowlands that was associated with the expansion of both intensive agriculture in the form of terraces and raised fi elds (Turner, 1974;Turner and Harrison, 1981) and extensive slash-andburn clearance of tropical forest (Lentz and Hockaday, 2009). Such deforestation promoted increased soil erosion, leading to a characteristic inorganic detrital deposit in most lakes and wetlands in Petén termed Maya Clay (Deevey et al, 1979;Brenner et al, 1990;Beach et al, 2006;Anselmetti et al, 2007;Mueller et al, 2009).…”

The Role of Climate in the Collapse of the Maya Civilization: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Discourse

“…Further major authors appearing in the map are (in alphabetical order and each with the title of the most-frequently cited first-author paper in our publication set): Flavio Anselmetti ("Late quaternary climate-induced lake level variations in Lake Peten Itza, Guatemala, inferred from seismic stratigraphic analysis") [44] at bottom left, Timothy Beach ("Impacts of the ancient Maya on soils and soil erosion in the Central Maya Lowlands") [45] at center right, Nicholas Dunning ("Kax and kol: collapse and resilience in Lowland Maya civilization") [46] at center right, Gyles Iannone ("The rise and fall of an ancient Maya petty royal court") [47] at center top, David Lentz ("Tikal timbers and temples: ancient Maya agroforestry and the end of time") [48] at center, Lisa Lucero ("The collapse of the Classic Maya: a case for the role of water control") [49] at bottom right, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach ("Wetland fields as mirrors of drought and the Maya abandonment") [50] at center right, Martin Medina-Elizalde ("Collapse of Classic Maya civilization related to modest reduction in precipitation") [51] at center, Andrew Scherer ("Bioarchaeological evidence for social and temporal Some authors in Figure 3 can be seen as predecessors of Hodell, Haug, and Kennett: Bruce Dahlin at the University of Colorado (bottom far left) discussed drought and its effects on soil and vegetation in late Preclassic Maya civilization already in 1983 [42]. Vernon Scarborough (center right) at the University of Cincinnati discussed the Pre-Hispanic water management and water storage in well-planned reservoirs in the Maya Lowlands in a paper from 1991 [43].…”